“To be free, you have to know how to live,” sings Brazilian rapper Negra Li, in “Luta Cansativa.” This song opens one of the early sequences of Anna Muylaert’s new film “The Best Mother in the World.” In the scene, a Black woman named Gal (Shirley Cruz) meanders through São Paulo’s chaotic traffic, pushing her heavy, garbage-filled cart. Her job involves collecting trash from the streets and selling it for recycling. As the rap suggests, Gal is trying to pursue freedom — both for herself and her children.
We first encounter Gal at a police station. She reports her husband, Leandro (Seu Jorge) for domestic violence. A close-up reveals a deep scar on her right eyebrow, which remains visible throughout the film. Gal is aware that reporting domestic abuse is no easy task — especially for a woman like her who depends on her partner's income. Still, Gal is full of conviction. When asked if she realizes that there is no going back after her accusation, Gal consents.
Upon leaving the police station, Gal learns that her two children — five-year-old Benin (Benin Ayo) and his older sister Rihanna (Rihanna Barbosa) — are not at school, but in Leandro’s house. She is then forced to enter his house without being noticed, get her kids and escape with them into the streets of São Paulo.
What follows is a multiple-day journey to the house of Gal’s cousin Valdete (Luedji Luna), who lives in a faraway neighborhood. Benin, Rihanna and Gal sleep on the street, eat donated food and continue collecting garbage for money. To disguise the fact that they just became homeless, Gal tells her kids that they are on an “adventure.”
“The Best Mother in the World” contributes to the genre of road movies. As the characters travel, they break from their routine and meet new people. Yet, there are some notable differences. The family travels on a garbage cart, not by car. The trip is not powered by gasoline, but by Gal’s manual labor. Most interestingly, Gal and her children only travel within their own city. São Paulo is so vast and socioeconomically unequal that going to a different neighborhood feels almost like visiting a different country.
The movie presents the audience with a paradox. Although Gal experiences deep solitude in her abusive relationship, she is not alone. Many of the women in her life, such as her cousin and her mother, undergo similar violence from their partners. In Muylaert’s film, domestic violence becomes a universal phenomenon: It reflects the reality of millions of women who experience abuse, both in Brazil and abroad.
The movie also examines how masculinity helps perpetuate violence against women. Male characters in the film undergo a different cycle of abuse. They are forbidden from expressing their feelings and alcohol is their only emotional outlet. When Gal demands an apology from Leandro, he says that he was never taught how to show vulnerability. Romantic and sexual relationships thus become a matter of asserting one’s own value as a man, rather than building truthful connections.
Similar to Muylaert’s 2015 movie “The Second Mother,” “The Best Mother in the World” takes a political stance on motherhood. The former focuses on the labor relations between a live-in maid and her employers, while the latter considers gendered power dynamics on the streets and within a family. Both films highlight the lack of support networks for mothers. Fathers and government-funded social programs are absent or dysfunctional, placing most of the burden of raising children on women alone.
The movie particularly excels with its soundtrack. This isn’t much of a surprise: Seu Jorge, the actor playing Leandro in the movie, is a very popular Brazilian samba singer. His songs seem omnipresent in Brazil, whether at a barbecue party in someone’s backyard or on the beach in Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to beginning with Negra Li’s “Luta Cansativa,” the film brilliantly uses Milton Nascimento’s “Maria, Maria” — a song that refers to the many impoverished women in Brazil who never give up on their search for a better life.
Muylaert’s film is particularly relevant in today’s world, when the rights of people like Gal are under constant threat. Black women in Brazil often face not only domestic violence and sexual abuse but also state violence and social exclusion. “The Best Mother in the World” brings a story that, despite being universal, is frequently silenced or overlooked to the big screen.
